Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/10/in-depth-look-at-a-200000-wr.html
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Does it do anything that a $100 watch won’t do, except to announce “I can afford a $200k watch?”
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High end style is often about being really impractical. Practical is for worker shlubs, not super stylish rich people.
I mean, if you can afford the best…why not?
99 percent of the people walking around wouldn’t know what this was from a Macy’s jewelry counter watch. There are way flashier timepieces that cost a 1/10 of a Patek.
Watch folks (which I include myself in that, though not even close to owning something like this) collect and talk with other watch people.
I can’t speak for all other collectors, but for me I’ve always been drawn to mechanical watches. I have a very small collection (two modern and two vintage) and haven’t bought anything in a long time, though.
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Where’s the affiliate link?
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This works too.
Or you could…I don’t know…check your phone? I imagine if you’re plunking down a small mortgage on something you wear on your body that you have a smart phone at this point.
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I’d be terrified to wear a watch like this outside my home. I’d be nervous enough wearing a $10k used Patek Calatrava on the street, but this one would give me ulcers.
if I had to choose one I’d go with an Accutron Spaceview. At 1/100 the price of this Patek Philippe, it’s still pretty expensive!
But it looks like the brother of Dr. Theopolis from Buck Rogers, so worth it!
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The answer is yes–it can be a Patek. The G-Shock, wonderful other features notwithstanding, can’t do that.
It’s an exquisite example of craftsmanship that will probably appreciate significantly in value in the coming years, provided the wearer doesn’t lose it at the gym or something. So it’s got that going for it?
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I’d get more pleasure giving away $200k to random people on the street then pissing it away on something like that.
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… why not both?
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So, how does it work? I was sad to have that question not answered in the video.
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They also missed talking about the lower button which allows you to travel backwards in time.
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Digital or analog, I hate thick watches. Swatch had some thin analog dial watches I loved. The movement only tics every 20 seconds, eliminating part of the movement and saving power. They are like 4 mm thick.
Now I have a steel Skagen that might be almost 6mm, but with a lenticular shape that make is look and feel closer to 2 or 3 mm.
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So “taking a closer look” means “expounding at length at how much trouble this company goes through to do something that can be done by a FitBit, while using the same stock footage of someone holding a watch over and over. And sometimes close ups of gears.”
Cool.
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I came here intending to say the same thing!
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So, here’s what I saw-
A nearly 10 minute fluff piece that’s basically a brand advert for Patek.
Really nothing in there that actually explains any of the mechanisms or what they do.
I would wager at least half of the value of the watch is in the solid gold case and band because that looks like it is at least 18 karat (24 karat would never be used for external parts- too soft, wears out easily).
You can find used vintage Pateks under 10k in servicable condition if you know what to look for.
This is really not an exciting vid in the least to me as a watchmaker, and probably to anyone but a collector.
Sad.
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This.
I own 3 watches from different watch manufacturers and I’m in the process to acquire a fourth (waitlist woes for a Submariner).
I’m not buying quality mechanical watches as a status symbol or for their functions (I prefer watches with date complication though) apart from telling time but for the timeless (pun intended) craftsmanship. l like the thought of owning a quality piece of gear that was made with care and tradition, can survive me and can be repaired even in a few decades.
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For the true aficionados of mechanisms, if you really want to enjoy some gear porn, get yourselves a copy of this book specifically I’m holding.
It will explain with large easy to follow technical drawings how various types of calender mechanisms work, including various examples of perpetual calenders.
I got mine from Simonin Books, ordered from Switzerland. Humbert does an excellent one on chronograph mechanisms much the same way.
A lot cheaper than 200k$!
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